RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The Fantasticks
The Fantasticks

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Fantasticks (1995)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
52 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:11

Rotten:10

Average Rating:5.3/10

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Synopsis: Michael Ritchie brings the world's longest-running musical to the big screen with this good-natured American love fable. Bellamy (Joel Grey) and Henry (Barnard Hughes) are next-door neighbors and... Michael Ritchie brings the world's longest-running musical to the big screen with this good-natured American love fable. Bellamy (Joel Grey) and Henry (Barnard Hughes) are next-door neighbors and the fathers of two lovely children, Luisa (Jean Louisa Kelly) and Matt (former New Kids On The Block vocalist Joe McIntyre). The fathers bicker constantly, insisting that their children stay away from one another. Instead, the kids grow closer. When a circus rolls into town, and the fathers soften up and enlist the aid of El Gallo (Jonathon Morris) to help celebrate union of the two lovebirds, things don't go as planned. Matt and Luisa begin to question their relationship, and yearn for the mysteries that life has to offer outside their town's limits. Eventually, El Gallo deceives Luisa into realizing what she has at home, and she and Matt are reunited, deciding once and for all who--and what--it is that they want from life. Ritchie lovingly transfers the stage story into the expanse of the American West, providing a realistic backdrop for the supremely fantastical story. Featuring the unforgettable hit songs "Try to Remember," "Plant a Radish," "Soon It's Gonna Rain," "They Were You," and many others. [More]

Starring: Joel Grey, Joseph McIntyre, Jean Louisa Kelly, Barnard Hughes

Starring: Joel Grey, Joseph McIntyre, Jean Louisa Kelly, Barnard Hughes, Jonathan Morris, Brad Sullivan, Teller

Director: Michael Ritchie

Director: Michael Ritchie
Composer: Harvey Schmidt
Screenwriter: Tom Jones

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Fantasticks

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/06/08
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Truth to tell, it's exactly the kind of musical pointed out by people who say they just don't like musicals.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
07/12/06
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
07/17/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
04/16/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/03
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/03/02
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[S]imultaneously flat and cartoonish...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
12/03/02
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

No review available.

comment Comment
10/31/02
Tony Toscano
Tony Toscano
Talking Pictures (U.S.)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/13/02
Hollywood.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
08/15/02
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
07/31/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

It's a trifle, but was pleasantly presented and I found it to be an adequate though not a scintillating production.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/04/02
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/11/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

The movie musical is practically a dead horse in Hollywood, and The Fantasticks does little to kick it back to life.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
04/04/01
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

The musical scenes in The Fantasticks crackle with intimacy.

Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
03/23/01
Chuck Rudolph
Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
03/21/01
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Apollo Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
21
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
  • Summit Ponders Twilight Finale Source: Variety
159
  • First Look at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Source: USA Today
56
  • Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Possibilities Source: Superhero Hype
14
  • Todd Phillips Talks The Hangover 2 Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
76
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
49
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
49
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
43
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
38
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
32
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
26
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Terminator Salvation and a Smithsonian Battle
22
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
22
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Fantasticks at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.